Many people who have been in a car wreck assume that they cannot change insurance companies while their claim is pending. This is especially frustrating to them if their own insurance company has treated them poorly and they have to fight just to receive the benefit they paid for.
The good news is that, “Yes, you CAN change insurance companies if you have a pending claim!” As long as you have insurance on the date of the collision, your insurance company must provide insurance coverage to you, even if you change insurance companies the very next day! It doesn’t matter who your insurance company is after the collision, it only matters who insured you on the date of the collision. Of course, none of the changes you make to either your insurance coverage or insurance company AFTER the collision will affect you as to the pending claim, but they will help you if you have another claim.
There are many reasons people want to change insurance companies after a collision, but the most common one is poor customer service from the insurance company. This happens more often than you might think – and more often than it should. Insurance companies forget that their policyholders are their “customers” and that they should treat them fairly. In fact, Washington law requires insurance companies to treat their customers “with an enhanced duty of good faith and fair dealing.”
If your insurance company refuses to pay a valid claim, requires you to submit the same information over and over again, fails to pay your medical bills in a timely manner, or fails to return your phone calls or answer your letters, maybe you should switch! What other business would you continue to give hundreds of dollars to when they treat you poorly?! And – if your insurance company is treating you this badly now, it seems pretty likely that it will do so again if you have another claim in the future.
It is just fine for you to “vote with your feet” and go to another insurance company, even when you have a pending claim.
